Today was our last full day in Norway. As an extra gift, Marit took us to Kleivan, an place with astonishing biodiversity. There are approximately 750 different species of plants (flowers, trees, hybrids, etc.) all on the property of one family. The family took over the place in 1995 and completely renovated the buildings, but used mostly the old materials originally used in their construction for their renovation.

Kleivan is a resting place with food, drink, and a place to lay their heads for pilgrims that are heading to the Nidarosdom in Trondheim for their pilgrimage. Kleivan, right on the well marked pilgrims' path that wanders through the woods, countryside, and towns of Norway used to belong to a scout named Ola who loved gardening. In fact so much, that he lived his adult life in almost complete isolation from the people intown and tended to his gardens constantly. Over the years, as Ola became old, he began to neglect maintenance around his house, however he always tended to his gardens.

He planted seeds from all around the area and was gifted some from afar as well. Most notable are the rare Blue Poppy Plants that tower in several of the gardens around the house. When the plants were originally planted, the house was surrounded only by gardens and contained all sorts of fauna. Over the years however, sections around the house have developed from botanical gardens to arboretums as the planted trees grew tall and overshadowed the flowers beneath them.

As Kleivan serves as a Bed&Breakfast for pilgrims, it is likewise suited as such for tourists. We enjoyed coffee, cookies, and the best pancakes that I have ever had anywhere in the world (I know that doesn’t mean much yet because it’s only been like four countries, but I’ll keep updating the rankings as they change). These pancakes are apparently a Norwegian delicacy and are filled with powdered sugar and butter, not covered with maple syrup, jellies, or such like in the US & Canada.

In the evening, Csaba and Marit invited us upstairs for a tapas dinner on their gorgeous terrace. Kinga and I got to try multa chutney (multa is the most expensive fruit in Norway and we found some (unripe) on the mountain by Magdalena’s vacation home) with Norwegian blue cheese. Although we were hesitant at first, "Selbu bla" is now one of our top favorite cheeses of all time, and it is our number one favorite fungi-filled cheese. The cheese is made about 60 kilometers away from Buvika in Selbu.